July 22, 2019 - As access to tourism statistics is restricted at the national level, a very transparent overview of the season by the Split Tourist Board.
In the first six months of 2019, Split Tourist Board records 237,865 arrivals (which is 12 percent more than in the same period in 2018) and 853,646 overnight stays (15 percent increase compared to 2018), which is in accord with the strategic goals of the increase of tourist traffic in the preseason. Bed occupancy has increased by 7 percent in the first six months of 2019.
In the first 15 days of July, 88,466 arrivals and 280,662 overnight stays were recorded, which are both 6 percent increases compared to the same period last year. The total numbers for July will be officially reported in early August.
In the week of the Ultra festival 49,591 arrivals and 166,542 overnight stays were recorded in the eVisitor system - 10 percent increase in arrivals and 12 percent in stays. The accommodations in Split were filled at a rate of 60 percent, which is 4 percent higher than in the week of the festival last year. The best results were seen in the objects with the higher categorisation (four- and five-stars).
The city of Split has 45 hotels open for this tourist season, including the seven new hotels that were recently open. That's the most newly opened hotels in a year in Split in a decade. So now Split has hotels Briig, Time, Vila Nepos, Boban Luxury Suites, Time, Pax and Ora to offer to the tourists - and that's in addition to hotels Cvita, Villa Split, Agava and aparthotel Posh which were opened late in 2018, so this is their first full summer season. That way, there are 10 additional four- and five-star hotels in Split!
That increased the number of hotel beds in Split by 10 percent, and there is a large demand for hotels - proven by the fact that they're all almost 100 percent full! Split has 3,641 beds in the hotels in 2019, and construction is almost finished on several new hotels which should be ready for the next season, bringing additional 1200 beds in four- and five-star hotels. Courtyard by Marriott is expected to open "Dalmatia Tower" until the end of 2020, with 190 rooms and four apartments. "Amphora Resort" on Žnjan, with 207 rooms, a congress hall, three swimming pools and a wellness centre is almost ready to be opened, as is the Ambassador Hotel on Matejuška, with 101 rooms and apartments, large restaurant for 240 people, spa, gym, nightclub and underground garage will. Villa Harmony with around 55 beds will also be open soon, proving the trend of growing investments in the highest quality hotels in Split in the last couple of years.
At the same time, the growth of the number of newly opened family-owned apartments has been reduced to just 5 percent, after several years when the growth was in the double digits. This year there are 1,271 new beds in private accommodation in Split, most of them belonging to the higher categories. The investments into the increase of the quality of accommodation in private apartments is obvious, as there are around 4 thousand beds in the four or five-star category. The total number of beds in private accommodation in Split this year is 24,614.
The total number of beds offered to tourists in Split is 34,374.
